


We Play Pretend

by the_space_princess



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_space_princess/pseuds/the_space_princess
Summary: Originally posted on Tumblr under lukesorangebeanie! OG Note: OKAY HERE FINALLY. I’ve been promising, I know, I’m terrible. But here it is. My completely original take on Luke Finding Out About Perfect Harmony. Will This Ever Happen?!?! Probably Not. But that’s what fics are for, so I HOPE YOU ENJOY, okay bye. - Fae
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 77





	We Play Pretend

He knew that she had said the box was off limits.

And she had gotten REALLY mad, at least for a short time, when he’d pulled that poem about Flynn out… But that had turned out well! They had a killer new song, Julie got her friendship with Flynn fixed, and she had joined the band! Okay, well, as Flynn put it, they joined Julie’s band…

So yeah, he was breaking a lot of rules, but Julie was at school, Alex was out searching for Willie, and Reggie was downstairs ‘hanging’ with Ray (that was still a little weird). Luke was a rockstar, though, and he was a rulebreaker, and SURELY if he found something good, Julie wouldn’t kill him. (Figuratively, of course.)

As soon as he opened the box, he saw a newly folded piece of paper, right on top. He grinned, grabbing it carefully and taking it out. He smoothed it out, looking over the words.

Perfect Harmony was written at the top, and as he read the page, he felt his ghost heart beating fast in his chest, and he suddenly wanted to drop it and run… Okay, maybe this was a bad idea after all. Panicking, he folded the paper back up and shoved it back in the box. Hearing the front door open, he panicked again, and it took him a couple tries to get the top back on the box. He didn’t notice that it was a bit crooked as he poofed out - he was just trying to get out of her room before she found him in there.

Back in the garage, he paced back and forth in the space. He was alone for the moment, but Julie was likely to want to rehearse soon… He turned and grabbed his acoustic guitar, flopping down onto the couch with it.

A few minutes later, Julie walked in. He blinked, and almost moved to sit up straighter, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention, and didn’t notice he was there. He sunk a little further into the couch, watching her quietly. She was humming and singing softly, and when he realized what it was, he nearly poofed out.

That song. From her box.

“Whoaaa… whoaaa… perfect harmony…”

… She already had a melody for it. He watched her sit at the piano, fiddling with the keys, playing notes that matched her quiet hums. Eventually, it got too weird, so he carefully stood up, then cleared his throat and tapped a finger on his guitar.

“Ah! Luke! I told you not to do that!” she said, giving him a frown as she shut the top on the keys to the piano.

“Ha, actually… I was here,” he replied, gesturing to the couch. Her face paled a bit.

“What? No…” She shook her head.

“Yeah, I was! You were too caught up to see me. What were you humming?” he asked her, stepping closer to the piano. Yeah… play it cool… pretend he had no idea about the song…

“It was nothing! Nothing,” she told him, pushing her hair back behind her ears. “Where’s Alex and Reggie?”

“Alex was out looking for Willie, and Reggie’s inside with your dad,” he told her.

“That’s still weird,” she said, shaking her head slightly.

“A little. But hey, we could work on some new stuff,” he said, strumming his guitar as he looked at her. “Like… that thing you were just humming…”

“Luke, drop it,” she told him, glaring.

“Why? It sounded good,” he said, plucking at the strings on his guitar a bit, matching the melody that she had done on the piano.

“I’m serious! Drop it. It’s nothing,” she told him, shaking her head.

Nothing… he narrowed his eyes back at her, and then played louder, picking out a melody that came to him instantly. “Step… into my world…” Her eyes narrowed even further on him, and he just dug himself deeper, singing the next line. “Bittersweet love story about a girl…”

“How… do you… Oh, no… my box… I KNEW I didn’t leave the lid like that! Luke!” she practically screeched, jumping up and moving around the piano to come after him. He yelped and stepped back, but she was too fast this time. She smacked at him, making him yelp again and let go of his guitar (thank goodness the strap was on his shoulder). “Yeah, I’m hitting you! I can do that now!”

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry, I am, I am! I have terrible impulse control when I’m bored and alone, I knew I shouldn’t but I did, and I just thought that I could find a good song for us!” he told her, and she finally stopped hitting him.

“After your parents house, Luke… Boundaries!” she said, crossing her arms.

“Yeah. I get it. I swear… I really swear this time,” he said. There was a long pause, and he bit his lip putting his hands on his guitar again. “It’s a good song, though…”

She rolled her eyes, stomping back to the piano. “Don’t.”

“Why not? This could be an awesome power ballad! You know we gotta show our range,” he said, and then tilted his head as he watched her. She was starting to look nervous. “What? What is it?”

“It’s about you,” she said. “The song… it’s… it’s about you… and me…”

Luke was quiet for a moment, watching her, and then he took his guitar off and set it against the table before walking to lean against the piano across from her. “Well, duh…” She glanced up sharply at him, and he gave a shake of his head. “The lyrics make it pretty obvious, Jules. ‘Bittersweet love story…’ and ‘the world can be so mean’… I know what it’s about…”

She shifted on the piano bench, looking nervous again. “I’m just saying, this one is… more personal. Okay?” she told him, frowning as she looked at him through her lashes.

After a moment of quiet, he moved to walk around the piano, slowly sitting down beside her on the bench. “Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just… You’re a great writer, and the song is…”

“We can write other songs, Luke. We write so many already! I would… I would like for this one to be… ours. I guess…. If that’s…?” Their arms bumped together, a quick touch, and he leaned over just enough to make it happen again, to touch her.

“It’s fine. But I’d like to play the whole thing with you sometime,” he told her, giving her a half-smile.

“I’ll think about it,” she told him, nodding even as she avoided his gaze.

“Alright. That’s all I can ask for. You think about it… in the meantime… what other ideas you got? I’m ready to work, if you are,” he told her, smiling bigger for her as she looked up at him to smile back.


End file.
